World's top female golf stars compete for the BMW Ladies Championship
The BMW Ladies Championship 2019 participants pose for a photo during a press conference at the LPGA International Busan in Busan, Tuesday. From left are Choi Hye-jin, Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Ko Jin-young, Brooke Hendersen and Hur Mi-jung. /Yonhap
By Kim Jeong-kyoo
The BMW Ladies Championship 2019 will take place at the 6,726-yard par-72 LPGA International Busan. Starting Oct. 24, the four-day event will be its inaugural edition.
The official LPGA Tour tournament features a star-studded 84-woman field from 16 countries across the world with no cuts.
Golf fans are agog to see how the world's big names will end each of the four days, contending for the crown. The major concern among local golf fans is whether a Korean player will manage to elbow their rivals aside in the race for the trophy.
Top 30 golfers on the KLPGA Tour Money Rankings gained entry to the 72-hole stroke play, which replaced the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship as the lone LPGA tournament on Korean soil.
In all, 36 players out of the top 40 LPGA money leaders will compete for the title, World No. 2 Park Sung-hyun not taking part.
Participating in the event among Korean LPGA Tour players are Ko Jin-young ranked first in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings, World No. 3 Lee Jeong-eun6, Kim Sei-young and many other famous players.
Ko, 24, continues her sensational season by winning her second major of the year at the Evian Championship after earning her first major success at the ANA Inspiration. Also she notched the Hite Jinro Championship title on her home soil a couple of weeks ago.
Lee, the runaway leader in the Rookie of the Year points standings, won the U.S. Women's Open last June for her first LPGA win.
Kim broke LPGA scoring record en route to win the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in Wisconsin on July 8, 2018. Shooting rounds of 63-65-64-65 for a cumulative score of 31-under-par, she smashed the LPGA Tour's four-day record by four shots. The 72-hole record was 27 under par held by Sorenstam.
Golf fans will see a host of their favorite celebrities including Australian professional golfer Lee Min-jee, Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Brooke Henderson from Canada.
Also in the field will be Jessica Korda from the U.S., Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Chinese Feng Shanshan.
Jutanugarn currently ranked 10th in the
is a 10-time LPGA Tour winner including two majors ― the Women's British Open in 2016 and the U.S. Women's Open in 2018. The 23-year-old was the World No. 1 in June 2017.
World No. 21-ranked Feng Shanshan notched 10 career LPGA Tour victories including a major. The 30-year-old became the first player from China to become No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.
The 72-hole stroke play tournament will have a total purse of $2 million, with $300,000 for the champion.
The place of the tournament, formerly known as the Asiad Country Club, is the first LPGA-certified golf course outside the United States.